Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Metabolic Diseases ; prevention & control ; Phytotherapy

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; blood ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male

Emergencies ; Environmental Exposure ; standards ; Humans ; Maximum Allowable Concentration

Objective To study hemodynamics of cerebral blood flow in newborns with asphyxia.Method Bilateral cerebral electrical admittance plethysmogram(BCEAP) was used to explore characteristics of cerebral blood flow in 20 healthy newborns and 20 newborns with asphyxia respectively from first to fourth day after birth.Results Both the ratio of Hs to b-S(Hs/ b-S) and index of admittance differential loop(ADL) Ⅰ+Ⅱ decreased significantly in newborns with asphyxia compared to normal control from first to fourth day after birth(P

Objective:To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Ganshu (BL 18) and Shenshu (BL 23) on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1)/CD31 around the cerebral infarction focus in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats and the possible mechanism, thus to provide a new strategy for the treatment of cerebral ischemic stroke by acupuncture. Methods:A total of 180 healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a sham operation group, a model group, an acupoint group and a non-acupoint group, 45 rats in each group. MCAO model was established using the modified line-embolus method in all rats except for those in the sham operation group; rats in the acupoint group were treated with EA at Ganshu (BL 18) and Shenshu (BL 23); rats in the non-acupoint group were treated with EA at the control points; rats in other 2 groups were only subjected to bundling without treatment. Ten rats in each group were randomly selected on the 3rd day, the 14th day and the 21st day after acupuncture stimulation to test the neurological function impairment. The expression levels of CD31 and VEGF were also detected. Results:Compared with the model group and non-acupoint group, the neurological function score of the acupoint group was decreased at each time point, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05,P<0.01). The expressions of VEGF and CD31 in each group were the lowest on the 3rd day, reached the peak on the 14th day and still remained at high level on the 21st day. And the differences among groups were statistically significant both on the 14th day and the 21st day (P<0.05,P<0.01). Compared with the model group and the non-acupoint group, the expressions of VEGF and CD31 in the acupoint group were increased, and the differences were statistically significant (allP<0.05). Conclusion: EA at Ganshu (BL 18) and Shenshu (BL 23) can significantly improve the neurological function score of MCAO model rats, and shows protective effect on cerebral ischemia. The protective mechanism may be related to the up-regulation of CD31 and VEGF expression around the cerebral infarction focus in the MCAO model rats and induction of angiogenesis.

This study was to investigate the relationship of dose-effect and time-effect of Alginate-Polylysine-Alginate (APA) microencapsulated bovine chromaffin cells on the treatment of pain model rats. Using a rat model of painful peripheral neuropathy, the antinociceptive effects of APA microencapsulated bovine cells transplanted into the subarachnoid space was evaluated by cold allodynia test and hot hyperalgesia test. Compared with control group, the withdrawal difference with cell number 50 thousands groups, 100 thousands groups and 200 thousands groups was reduced (P < 0.05), and the difference decreased with the cells increases, indicating a significant analgesic effect. There was no significant difference between 400 thousands groups and 200 thousands groups. This analgesic effect maintained longer than 12 weeks. There was a positive correlation between the analgesic effect and the quantity of APA microencapsulated bovine chromaffin cells which were transplanted to treat pain model rats, and the effective antinociception remained longer than 12 weeks.
Alginates ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Analgesia ; methods ; Animals ; Cattle ; Chromaffin Cells ; transplantation ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Compounding ; Implants, Experimental ; Pain Management ; methods ; Polylysine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Sciatica ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo compare the effect of reinforcing Shen method (RSM) and activating blood method (ABM) in treating osteoarthritis (OA) at the molecular level.

METHODSThe physical and chemical characteristics of components from respective recipes of RSM and ABM, and network features of component-target interaction network were analyzed by computer simulation methods including chemical space, molecular docking, and biological network, etc.

RESULTSThe chemical components of RSM and ABM were scarcely scattered with larger overlapping. Among established networks, the distribution of network features was partially similar in RSM and ABM. The average target number correlated with each component was 1.86 in RSM and 2.11 in ABM respectively. Each average target number was respectively correlated with 4.46 compounds and 3.93 compounds, reflecting multi-component and multi-target actions.

CONCLUSIONComputer simulation could intuitively trace out similarities and differences of two different methods and their interaction with targets, which revealed that the compatibility of RSM and ABM could have broader protein targets and potential synergism at the molecular level.

Computer Simulation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; drug therapy ; Phytotherapy ; methods

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of puerarin on angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in spontaneous hypertension rat (SHR).

METHODSSHRs, 12 weeks old, were randomly divided into four groups: the model control group (A), the Verapamil group (B), and the two puerarin groups (C and D) treated by low dose and high dose of puerarin respectively. After being treated for 3 weeks, total RNA from tissues of heart, aorta and kidney in rats were extracted and mRNA expression levels of AT1 and ACE2 were determined by RT-PCR.

RESULTSAs compared with Group A, the mRNA expressions of AT1 and ACE2 in heart tissue were lower in Group C, and those in kidney tissue were higher in Group D (all P < 0.05); ACE2 mRNA expression was higher in Group D than in Group C (P < 0.05); no significant differences of the two indexes in aorta were shown among various groups. Besides, mRNA expressions of AT1 and ACE2 in heart and kidney tissue were proved to be positively linearly correlated.

CONCLUSIONHigh dose puerarin could increase the mRNA expressions of AT1 and ACE2 in kidney, while low dose puerarin could decrease them in heart; there might be a feed back correlation between AT1 and ACE2.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Heart ; drug effects ; Humans ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Isoflavones ; administration & dosage ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred Dahl ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To study the correlation of ~(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT with pathological changes of the VX2 rabbit tumors after treatment of Ar-He knife,and to explore the evolution of the Ar-He knife curative effect for VX2 rabbit tumors.Methods Thirty-six Japanese white rabbits had successfully been implanted with VX2 tumors in thighs.Four weeks later,the rabbits with VX2 tumors were imaged with FDG PET/CT before they were treated with Ar-He cryoablation.The rabbits were evenly and randomly divided into 6 groups (6 rabbits in each group) and imaged with FDG PET/CT respectively on the first day,third day,seventh day,fourteenth day,thirtieth day and sixtieth day after cryoablation.The rabbits in each group were sacriftced after post-treatment FDG PET/CT imaging for pathology and immunohistochemistry studies.The standardized uptake value (SUV) of tumor regions were calculated and compared with pathology and immunohistochemistry findings in the cryoablative area in each group.Paired-samples t-test and bivariate correlation analysis were evaluated by statistical software SPSS 16.0.Results After ArHe cryoablation,pathological changes of "necrosis-inflammatory response→organization" were found.On CT imaging,the tumors enlarged during 3-14 d after treatment and then shrank gradually.On FDG PET imaging,the maximum SUV (SUV_(max)) dropped dramatically on the first day after the operation(from 2.54±1.12 to 0.67±0.12),and increased slightly on the third day (1.71±0.82),and then continually dropped to 0.51±0.32 (60 d afterthe operation).The differences of SUV_(max) between pre-and after cryoablationin each stage were significant,respectively (t=5.471,8.716,11.388,5.713,7.144 and 7.213,all P＜0.05).The size and SUV_(max) of the targeting area did not correlate with each other(r=0.259,P=0.675).The change of the MVD closely correlated with SUV_(max)(r=0.865,P=0.032).Conclusion FDG PET/CT can reveal the pathological change of tumor tissue after Ar-He cryoablation therapy and therefore may be a potential tool for evaluating the curative effect of this treatment modality.

Objective The purpose of this study was to develop a high-throughput micro-plate radiobinding assay (RBA) of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (GAD-Ab) and to evaluate its clinical application. Methods 35labeled GAD65 antigen was incubated with sera for 24 h on a 96-well plate, and then transferred to the Millipore plate coated with protein A, which was washed with 4℃ PBS buffer, and then counted by a liquid scintillation counter. The GAD-Ab results were expressed by WHO standard unit (U/ml). A total of 224 healthy controls, 162 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM) and 210 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) were recruited. A total of 119 TI DM and healthy cases with gradually changing GAD-Ab levels were selected to compare the consistency of micro-plate RBA with conventional radioligand assay (RLA). Blood samples were obtained from the peripheral vein and finger tip in 32 healthy controls, 35 T1DM and 24 T2DM patients, and tested with micro-plate RBA and then compared with the conventional RLA to investigate the reliability of finger tip sampling. Linear correlation,student's t-test, variance analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were performed using SPSS 11.5. Results (1) The optimized conditions of micro-plate RBA included 2 μl serum incubated with3 ×104 counts/min 35S-GAD for 24 h under slow vibration, antigen-antibody compounds washed 10 times by 4℃ PBS buffer, and radioactivity counted with Optiphase Supermix scintillation liquid. (2)The intra-batch CV of the micro-plate RBA was 3.8%- 10.2%, and the inter-batch CV was 5.6%- 11.9%. The linearity analysis showed a good correlation when the GAD-Ab in serum samples ranged from 40.3 to 664 U/ml and the detection limit of measurement was 3.6 U/ml. The results from Diabetes Autoantibody Standardization Program (DASP) 2005 showed that the sensitivity and specificity for GAD-Ab were 78% (39 positive among 50 new-onset T1DM) and 98% (2 positive among 100 healthy controls). The results of GAD-Ab obtained with micro-plate RBA and RLA were closely correlated (r=0.915,P<0.001) with a high concordance level of 97.5% and a Kappa value of 0.95. (3)TI DM and T2DM patients showed higher positive rates for GAD-Ab than the healthy controls(46.9% and 5.2% vs 0.89% ,X2=123.5 and 10. 1 ,P <0.001 and <0.01, respectively). (4)The consistency of GAD-Ab measurement with RBA using finger tip blood and RLA measurement using venous blood was 96.7% (r =0.946,P <0.001, Kappa value: 0.905). Conclusions The micro-plate RBA of GAD-Ab has high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility, and can be measured with finger tip blood sampling. It might be a better alternative for clinical practice.